discoveredinalj | Discovered in a Christmas Stocking

Well I struggled and struggled about what to do for this especially as I do not have a happy relationship with deadlines. After lots of false starts I decided to steal an idea from a meme that went round a while back and listen to some songs for inspiration.

So I picked a few Christmas songs and listened to them until they gave me ideas for a couple of mini Pros fics ~~it was three until this afternoon when one imploded on me and the deadline loomed~~. The ideas could come from the title, the tune, a line, all the lyrics, basically whatever struck me.

I have put each ficlet in its own post so I can easily put the trailer after each story.

The first song was Do they know it’s Christmas? - Band Aid

Doyle sat in his living room, cradling an unfinished drink and staring blankly at the wall in front of him. He couldn’t remember a year when he felt less in the Christmas spirit. They had finished the op on schedule and with relative ease, but finding out that guns and explosives weren’t the only things these smugglers traded in, had hit everybody hard.

They’d opened the container at the docks, expecting to see wooden pallets stacked with ammo boxes and crates loaded with guns, and instead they’d found half starved children huddled together, silent, shivering, and scared.

Anson had only just managed to stop Murphy throttling the man he was handcuffing. Bodie had gone completely quiet, a hard look on his face as he had assessed the prisoners. And Cowley’s shoulders had stiffened in rage, his unyielding expression making it crystal clear that these men would never walk free.

And Doyle, well, the anger had raged through him immediately. He’d wanted to help Murphy hit, kick, strangle, shoot, and drown McLean and his gang, but by some miracle he’d restrained himself. Instead, he felt drawn to the children, wanting to make things better in some way. But all he’d been able to do was talk quietly and calmly to them until some other agents had appeared to take over. It was then that a wave of despair had rushed into him, stayed with him throughout the day, and lingered even now.

That people could do this, that they could trade in children as easily as if they were clothes or cars, just showed the depths and depravity that humanity could sink to. It didn’t matter how many murderers, terrorists, drug dealers, and pieces of scum they put away, there were always more monsters ready to take their place.

Suddenly the noise of a key turning in a lock interrupted his thoughts, and the front door opened to reveal his sombre partner. The two men stared at each other for a moment, Ray about to tell Bodie he couldn’t cope with being cheered up tonight when he realized that he wouldn’t have to say those words.

Bodie crossed the floor, shrugged off his coat and sat on the sofa next to Ray. Close, but not touching. His silent presence made it clear that he understood Ray’s thoughts and felt the same. However simply by being there Bodie reminded Ray that there were people who fought for what was right, and one of them was sitting next to him.

With that small reminder of what they did from day to day Ray could feel a slight change in his mood. He did not feel better, not yet, but he knew that he would do with his partner by his side. No one understood what he needed like Bodie.

Title: Despair
Author: Vic
Slash/Gen: Hints of slash if you squint
Archive at Proslib/Circuit: Ok
Disclaimer: I do not own Bodie, Doyle etc.
Word count: approx 450 words
Summary: The outcome of an op leaves Ray feeling full of despair.
Notes: Inspired by the song Do they know it’s Christmas? - Band Aid, specifically the title.